SlingCatcher vs. 2nd HD Tivo...What would you do?

2591 Views 19 Replies 13 Participants Last post by old64mb, Sep 28, 2007

lawilson2

Discussion Starter · Sep 26, 2007

If you haven't heard about the upcoming Slingcatcher, here it is: http://www.slingcommunity.com/artic...-Media-Brings-Place-Shifting-and-More-to-TVs/

Basically, if you already have a Slingbox, what this new device will allow you to do is attach it to another TV in your house, say your bedroom, and you can "sling" your TV from your main TV that has a Tivo on it to your bedroom. For Tivo people, this can eliminate the need for MRV as it does it without the Tivo fees & the need for a 2nd box. Of course, the streaming is dependent on a solid home network, and it will most likely use a Powerline type of device that sends ethernet over your power.

Anyway, I've been holding off getting a 2nd HD Tivo because of this device. I live alone and so if I'm in the bedroom I wouldn't disturb anyone who might be using the main TV by changing the channels in another room. I pay the $200 or so fee for the box and that's it, no monthly charges, etc.

Any opinions on this? Granted, it isn't out yet, but it's due within the next couple of months, and I want to decide on this or a 2nd HD Tivo. I have a 32" HD TV in my bedroom and I'm not taking advantage of the HD capabilities with my old cancelled s2 Tivo on it. By the way, this SlingCatcher will "sling" HD content.

1 - 20 of 20 Posts

Arcady

· #2 · Sep 26, 2007

That thing won't send HD-quality video over a network, will it? What kind of bandwidth would you need for that? Surely it downscales the video just like when you use SlingPlayer, right?

The guy in the video really, really needs to stop saying "uh, uh, um." Really.

lawilson2

Discussion Starter · #3 · Sep 26, 2007

Arcady said:
That thing won't send HD-quality video over a network, will it? What kind of bandwidth would you need for that? Surely it downscales the video just like when you use SlingPlayer, right?

The guy in the video really, really needs to stop saying "uh, uh, um." Really.

My assumption with it having an HDMI connection was that it would be able to do HD. The quality? Who knows. They haven't put the specs out. Check out the video in the link I provided to see it in action.

Also, this is internal bandwidth, so most newer routers can easily handle HD streaming. This isn't going over the Internet, so I would expect a much higher output.

Arcady

· #4 · Sep 26, 2007

If it does HD, then it looks great. But with a second TiVo, you add two more tuners and you can stream both ways. I just bought a THD for my Den, and I connected my Slingbox Pro to it so I can watch it from work. When they turn on MRV, then I can share with my S3 in the living room. One of these boxes might be nice for the bedroom, if it really can do HD. But for the extra few bucks, I'd probably just add a 3rd HD TiVo and retire my last S2.

lawilson2

Discussion Starter · #5 · Sep 26, 2007

I'll do some more research into it, but if it's low quality HD, then I agree with you; I'd rather just do a TivoHD.

Phantom Gremlin

· #6 · Sep 26, 2007

This product has been vaporware since January. See if you can find anything on their site since then. What makes you believe it will be available any time soon?

DTG

· #7 · Sep 26, 2007

lawilson2 said:
Of course, the streaming is dependent on a solid home network, and it will most likely use a Powerline type of device that sends ethernet over your power.

I have been trying to get MRV working using PowerLine ethernet. First I tried 4 200MBit boxes. My avarage speed was about 5 MBit/Sec. Sometimes.

Then I tried 4 83 MB Netgear boxes. I got a reported speed of 60 MB/sec. Could download to my PC, but generally unable to transfer from my PC to my Tivos. Worked very occasionally. Basically useless.

And all this was over a total distance of 40 feet, and both all were on the same phase power.

Finally I ran a cat 5 cable between the two points. Then everyting worked very well. But my wife does no like the cable over the floor.

It may work, but it may also be unusable. Make sure everything is returnable.

nhaigh

· #8 · Sep 26, 2007

When I first heard about this perhaps as much as a year ago I was all for it. I saw it as a solution for my S3 given MRV wasn't possible. Now MRV is possible a second S3 is a much better option. I don't know where I'd use this anymore.

wickerbill

· #9 · Sep 26, 2007

This won't do HD unless they create a slingbox that will do HD. There is one that can accept an HD input, but it doesn't broadcast an HD signal.

rainwater

· #10 · Sep 26, 2007

It couldn't replace MRV for me. The problem is it actually controls the slingbox like the slingplayer does. This wouldn't work in my household. I'm pretty sure I would be severely beaten if I started controlling our TiVo HD hooked up to our flat panel. I guess the internet based content is a nice feature, but I hope that a PC is not required for that. If it is all self contained, then it could be a nice little device.

lawilson2

Discussion Starter · #11 · Sep 26, 2007

Phantom Gremlin said:
This product has been vaporware since January. See if you can find anything on their site since then. What makes you believe it will be available any time soon?

Because I've been actually following it, and it received FCC approval earlier this month: http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/04/slingbox-solo-and-slingbox-catcher-pass-through-fcc/

yunlin12

· #12 · Sep 26, 2007

Sling catcher needs to occupy the video output of the 1st Tivo, so yes it allows one to watch the content from 1 Tivo on 2 different TV's, but not at the same time if you want to watch different shows. MRV will let you do that. I would still get a second Tivo HD.

lawilson2

Discussion Starter · #13 · Sep 26, 2007

yunlin12 said:
Sling catcher needs to occupy the video output of the 1st Tivo, so yes it allows one to watch the content from 1 Tivo on 2 different TV's, but not at the same time if you want to watch different shows. MRV will let you do that. I would still get a second Tivo HD.

I agree. This SlingCatcher concept would be for someone like I mentioned in my 1st post that possibly lives alone, or wouldn't have anyone else accessing the main TV while they are in the other room. Otherwise the other person would be pretty pissed to see channels randomly changing while they are watching something.

MickeS

· #14 · Sep 26, 2007

Arcady said:
The guy in the video really, really needs to stop saying "uh, uh, um." Really.

No kidding, I could barely watch the entire thing because of that.

jcthorne

· #15 · Sep 27, 2007

If it does transfer HD, then great they might have a market. If not, then it really does nothing that a remote extender and a length of coax cannot do.

I'd like access to our TivoHD in the bedroom occaisionally, but not $299 plus $7 a month worth.

lawilson2

Discussion Starter · #16 · Sep 27, 2007

jcthorne said:
If it does transfer HD, then great they might have a market. If not, then it really does nothing that a remote extender and a length of coax cannot do.

I'd like access to our TivoHD in the bedroom occaisionally, but not $299 plus $7 a month worth.

This is the situation I'm in concerning the bedroom. I rarely watch TV in the bedroom, so I'm hesitant about getting a 2nd Tivo.

For around $200, this SlingCatcher with its one time price might be the solution.

megazone

· #17 · Sep 28, 2007

I love my Slingbox PRO, and I've been testing the new Slingbox SOLO, and I plan to get a SlingCatcher - but I don't expect it to Sling HD content. It may play HD content - streamed from a PC, downloaded online, etc - but neither the PRO nor the SOLO can Sling HD. They both accept HD *input*, but they down-sample HD to 640x480 anamorphic before encoding it. What you get on the other end is decent, but definitely not HD. Sling has the same issue TiVo would have trying to record analog HD - drinking from a fire hose of data.

lawilson2

Discussion Starter · #18 · Sep 28, 2007

megazone said:
I love my Slingbox PRO, and I've been testing the new Slingbox SOLO, and I plan to get a SlingCatcher - but I don't expect it to Sling HD content. It may play HD content - streamed from a PC, downloaded online, etc - but neither the PRO nor the SOLO can Sling HD. They both accept HD *input*, but they down-sample HD to 640x480 anamorphic before encoding it. What you get on the other end is decent, but definitely not HD. Sling has the same issue TiVo would have trying to record analog HD - drinking from a fire hose of data.

Thanks for your post. I want to put my HD LCD to use, so it looks like that while the SlingCatcher is a good idea, I want TrueHD, so I will most likely go with the TivoHD sometime soon. I did some reading over the last day or so, and you're right, it won't sling true HD; that would require an amazing amount of bandwidth.

EVizzle

· #19 · Sep 28, 2007

My slingbox pro works great, in network i get awesome picture quality from my S3 when viewing on my laptop, and I will probably get a slingcatcher for my kitchen. I am not watching television in there very often, but while preparing something or cleaning up it would be nice to watch cable. No cable in the kitchen right now is really annoying, but not worth the hassle of cutting into the wall and running cable through the floor. Looks like a good fit for me, and if the quality is decent it will be a great fit.

old64mb

· #20 · Sep 28, 2007

x2 on the too much bandwidth issue making this semi-useless for HD.

That said, if you're satisfied with an SD signal in the other room I do remember reading that someone had tested this using SD signals and found it more than satisfactory. The S2 can be ditched if you have a nice ol' Trinitron, but not the S3 if you want better than 480i.

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